Car.



No. 862,573. PATENTED AUG. 6, 1967. R. s. MEARS, N. J. JORGENSBN & W. E. PAXTON.

GAR.

APPLIGATION FILED nov.1s. 190s.

WITHESSES.

Cil

UNITED lSTATES PATENT OEEIOE.- y

` ROBERT s. MEARs, OF HUMANsvILLE, MISSOURI, AND NI'ELs I. JORGENSEN AND WASHINGTON E.. PAXTON, OF

EMPORIA, KANsAssAID JORGENsEN AND SAID PAX- TON ASSIGN ORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO SAID MEARS,

CAR.

No. 862,573. A

lSpecification of Letters Patent,

Patented Aug. 6, 1907.

Application ledlovelnber 16| 1906. Serial No. 343,676..

To.' all whom 'it may concern: Y Be it known that we, ROBERT S. MEARs, a citizen of the Unitedl States, residing at Humansville, in the 'county of Polk and State of Missouri, and NIELsl .TORGENSEN and WASHINGTON E. PAXTON, citizens of thevUnited States,.and residents of Emporia, in the county-olf Lyon and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cars, of which the ollowing is a specification. Y

c, Our invention relates to railway cars in which may be carried articles for exhibition purposes where it is l not convenient or desirable to remove thearticles from the c'ar while exhibiting them. It may be that the arti'cles are too heavyto affordconvenient removal, or that the exhibits are arranged in the car in attractive manner, and that the time for exhibition being short at each place, would not be possible to remove' them.

With such exhibits it has heretofore been the plan to set them up in the ordinary car, permitting the persons inspecting the exhibits-to pass through the inside of the car, which isobviously a great limitation upon ther amount of exhibits -to be carried in anyone' car but is also an obstacle to the convenient and artistic `arrangement ofthe vinterior ofthe 'c ai', the contents of the car being necessarily crowded. v Our invention has view a plan for utilizing the entire interior of the car for the exhibited articles, and

, the provision of extension floors, sides, tops, and ends,

so that the Acar may thus be spread out-sidewardsto aboutthree times its normal floor space, using the side extensions as platforms' from which the contents of the car, may be viewedby the spectators. B y this method of extending, temporarily, the sides ofthe car,'the in- `terior o the car may be utilized to its full capacity; inf

transit the extension'parts may be folded or collapsed so as to then have the car of substantially normal dimensions; and when the car: is -thus extended for purposes of exhibition, these extensions may be drawn out, without disturbing the exhibits.A Th'c importance of a car of this kindis obvious in the instances of exhibiting` heavy machinery, as well yas special arrange-v` ments .of lighter articles. Furthermore, the utilityof the car is not limited` to exhibition purposes; it may be used as a traveling assembly hall; and it may b usedV in an)7 case`where it may be desired to luse the car with` the extended floor. space. W Y The invention consists of the parts, improvements, and combinations herein setjorth and claimed.

l In the accompanying and forming part of this specication, and in the .description thereof, we

have shown somewhat in outline,.the preferred form of our invention, and have shown what we-deemto be the best mode of applying the principles of our inven tion ;vbut it is to be understood that our invention is not i confined L to this drawing and the description of the drawing, and that parts and combinations herein separately claimed may be used either with orwithout the other device or devices of like general nature to those herein set forth;" and that we contemplate changes in form, proportion, materials, arrangement, the transposition of .partsfand the substitution of equivalent members without departing from the spirit of the" i invention.

Figure 1 is a cross sectionof a car made`in accordance v with our invention, the right-hand side of the car being extended, andthe left-hand s ide being closed or folded .up Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation of the` car taken from the right-hand side of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a partial center longitudinal section ofthe car. v

Like reference letters or reference numerals Aindicate -like or corresponding parts throughout the several views. v v

.In the drawings we have shown only an outline ofthe car, no reference being made to details ofconstruction,

since our invention does not cover such details-and since such details are well known in the art of car construction; the invention itself being 'however suiciently disclosed to enable those skilled in the art to make andhuseit. .y

A A may represent a car-body mounted on trucks B.

C is. the ordinary floor, and D, D are 'the sills. 4 is the 80 'car roof and 3 is the car end. Somuch of the car is of any well known or suitable construction, and need not be further described.

Instead of the ordinary side walls of the car fastened rigidly thereto as part' thereof, it should be noted that 85 the sides of our car, 8,'8 are movable, the roof being supported at intervals along the side by the upright `studs 5,'- 5. Secured to the lower edge o the car-sides so as to be'capable of being extended in under the car, are a number of movable Hoor-supports, or I- beams, 6, d6. These I-beams may be located Vunder the can at suitable intervals, ,say three O'r four feet apart, and at such places as not to interfere with thel wheels, the braking apparatus, or any of the equipment under the car-body. They may be of a length about equal to the width of the car; may be supported 'at their Outer ends on rollersl, 10 mounted loosely on the line shaft 14 hung in suitable brackets or hangers 9, 9 at intervalsalong the car-body; and may bear upwardly against a plate 1l which may be secured to a 100 cross-beam 12, or otherwise fastened to the under side of the car. Cleats 13 may b'e provided if desired to embrace the flanges of the I-beams to serve as guides therefor. Some ofthe I-beams may te provided with raekaas at`7,gwhich mesh with pinions l5, which Itay when fullyy extended they may be supported on the more stable supports the jacks 19; it being understood that there may be as many jacks and d ollies as may be necessary to acilitate the extension and support the load.

A ioldable door 16 is hinged to the inside of the movable side andat the bottoni thereof, 17, and this is of such width that when the side is extended out to its limit, the floor just fits in between the original 'and the extendedside of the car, as shown in the righthand side of Fig. 1.

Extending the length of the car is a roller 23 on which is rolled the tarpanlin 24, which when. the side lis extended serves` as a roof ior the extension, and

when the extendible side is folded lor closed, this tar-k paulin is rolled up on the roller 23. A drop-board 25 covers the opening in the side of theear above the movable side 8 when the side is closed up and also serves to protect the roller and other parts from .the Weather when the side is extended, as shown in the respective sides in Fig. l.

As ends for the extensions, We-may have either, wooden ends, as illustrated, 20, 20, and ioldable` up with the sides and across the ear-ends, and having the hinged drops 21,*21, at the bottom, or we may have a separate tarpaulin; or, indeed, several of the cars may be connected together with mere coverings over theadjoining ends,A thus making continuous passages throughout'an entire train oi the cars.`

To hold the sides rigidly lwhen extended, we` may provide suitable tie-bars 26, 26, adapted to -be bolted, 27, to the sides, and at 28 to the stud 5. When the sides are closed up, these tie-bars may be allowed to stand against the studs, the slots 29, allowing them to be thus shortened with reference yto the bolt 28. When the side is closed up, the bolt 27 may pass through the correspondingstud, and secured thereto by a nut or pin, so as to hold the side in place'. Ventilators may be provided in the upper part of the carsbody proper, as

yat 30, 30, and also in the movable sides, as at 31, 31.

Suitable steps to the floor of the extension may also.

be provided, as at 32.

From this desgription of the car embodying Qur invention, the operation will be readily understood. When the c ar is' in ser-vice traveling, or at other times when ity-is not .desired to extend the sides, both sides may be folded or closed up, as is the left-hand side of the car shown in Fig. 1, and in such case we have a cariof the ordinary or standard measurements as to width, and yet the manner of folding up the sides, doors, and top, take up but very little of the space in the interior o the car, anddo no t interfere with the contents of the ear or their arrangement. With the extensible sides, fioor, and roof thus ,closed 4or folded up, the car has the appearance from the outside, as to general outline and dimensions of anordnary car, 60 and maybe handled in the same manner. Where it is desired to display the contents ot the car,`the car may be side-tracked, and one or both sides extended in the manner hereinbeore explained. When both sides-are thus extended, we have a door area about three times as great as the floor area of the ordinary car.

What we claim is:

1. 'lhe combination with a ear, of a movable side, beams supporting.r the side and movably supported under the ear, and a iioor adapted to be laid on said beams when the side' is extended and to be folded up against the side when the side is closed up.

2. 'lhe combination of a ear with movable sides and an extensible iloor. nl' beams lnovably supported by the, lower portion of the car and supporting?` the side and extended floor, and a collapsible roof.

3. 'lhe combination with a. car, of movable sides. beams extended under the ear and supported thereby and snpporting the movable sides, floors adapted to be folded up against the sides and to be supported on the beams when '80 extended outwardly, and n flexible covering for said ex tensions.

4. 'lhe combination of a ear with movable sides, of beams movably supported underneath the ear and extensible laterally therefrom and supporting the finovable sides,

.floors adapted to be supported on said beams when the beams and sides are extended and to be folded up against the -sides when-they are closed. and a flexible covering for said extensions.

5. 'lhe combination with a car having movable sides, of beams supported by and underneath the car and extendibly outwardly therefrom and supporting the movable sides. floors supported on the beams when extended and foldable up against the 'sides when closed,A a flexible roof, folding ends, and adjustable means for supporting said extensions upon -the ground.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence oi' witnesses.

ROBERT, S. MEANS. NlllLS J. JORGIINSEN. \VASIIING'.I.()N E. IAXI'ON.

Witnesses to signature of Rohert S. Mears:

RicHAnn Dim., B. R. Tum-nix. 

